Satoru Iwata

Satoru Iwata was a Japanese video game programmer, designer, and businessman who served as the fourth president and chief executive officer of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was widely regarded as one of the most influential and respected figures in the video game industry, as well as a visionary leader who expanded the appeal of video games to a broader audience. Iwata was born in Sapporo, Japan, on December 6, 1959. He developed an interest in video games from an early age and created his first simple game while in high school using a programmable calculator. He majored in computer science at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and joined the game developer HAL Laboratory in 1980 as a part-time programmer. He worked on several games for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Game Boy, such as Balloon Fight, Kirby's Dream Land, and EarthBound. He became the president of HAL Laboratory in 1993 and helped the company recover from financial difficulties. In 2000, Iwata joined Nintendo as the head of its corporate planning division. He was appointed as the president of Nintendo in 2002, succeeding Hiroshi Yamauchi, who had led the company for 53 years. Under Iwata's direction, Nintendo launched the Nintendo DS and the Wii, two of the best-selling game consoles of all time, which introduced innovative features such as touch-screen and motion controls. He also oversaw the development of popular franchises such as Pokémon, Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing, and Splatoon. He was known for his direct and personal communication with Nintendo fans through online videos such as Nintendo Direct and Iwata Asks, where he showcased new games and interviewed developers. Iwata faced several challenges during his tenure, such as the decline of Nintendo's market share due to the rise of mobile gaming and the poor sales of the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U. He responded by cutting his own salary in half, forming partnerships with mobile companies such as DeNA and Niantic, and announcing the development of the Nintendo Switch, a hybrid console that can be played both at home and on the go. He also initiated a quality-of-life product line that aimed to improve the health and well-being of consumers through gaming technology. Iwata was diagnosed with a bile duct tumor in 2014 and underwent surgery to remove it. He resumed his duties after a brief period of recovery, but the tumor recurred in 2015. He died on July 11, 2015, at the age of 55, at Kyoto University Hospital. He was mourned by millions of fans and industry peers around the world, who praised his contributions to gaming and his passion for making people happy. He was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 Game Developers Choice Awards and the Hall of Fame Award at the 2016 D.I.C.E. Awards. He is widely considered as one of the greatest game developers of all time and a symbol of Nintendo's spirit and values.